Solving Quadratic Equations

A quadratic equation is one which can be written in the form ax 2 + bx + c = 0

where a ≠ 0 . A solution to any equation is a value which makes the equation
true. A quadratic equation is also called a second degree polynomial
equation. The degree of a polynomial equation is an upper bound for the
number of solutions to the equation. Hence, a quadratic equation can have
no more than two solutions.

Types of quadratics-

Solving by factoring
The key idea behind solving by factoring is that if a product is equal to zero, then
one or both of the factors must equal zero. It is important to remember that this
only works if one side of the equation is zero.
( x − a )( x − b) = 0 ⇒ x − a = 0, x − b = 0 ⇒ x = a, b.
Examples:
x 2 − 9 = 0 ⇒ ( x + 3)( x − 3) = 0 ⇒ x + 3 = 0, x − 3 = 0 ⇒ x = ±3.
x 2 − 4 x − 5 = 0 ⇒ ( x − 5)( x + 1) = 0 ⇒ x − 5 = 0, x + 1 = 0 ⇒ x = 5,−1.
1
3x 2 + 5 x − 2 = 0 ⇒ (3 x − 1)( x + 2) = 0 ⇒ 3 x − 1 = 0, x + 2 = 0 ⇒ x = ,−2.
3
If one side of the equation is not zero, then add or subtract as need to get a zero on
one side.
x 2 + x = 20 ⇒ x 2 + x − 20 = 0 ⇒ ( x + 5)( x − 4) = 0 ⇒ x = −5,4.
The following does not work because on side of the equation is not zero.
x 2 + 2 x = 5 ⇒ x( x + 2) = 5 ⇒ x = 5, x + 2 = 5 ⇒ x = 5,3 and neither of these values satisfy the
original equation.
A quadratic can always be factored, but at times it is worth neither the time nor the
effort since there are other techniques that always work and factoring can often be
difficult.

x2 = k .
This type of equation can be solved by taking both positive and negative
square roots of the right hand side.
Ex.: x 2 = 9 ⇒ x = ± 9 = ±3 .
The symbol “ ⇒ ” stands for implies.

( x − h) 2 = k ⇒ x − h = ± k ⇒ x = h ± k .
Ex.: ( x + 3) = 4 ⇒ x + 3 = ±2 ⇒ x = −3 ± 2 ⇒ x = −3 + 2,−3 − 2 ⇒ x = −1,−5 .
2

Before taking the square roots of the right hand side, it can be desirable to
isolate the square by dividing both sides by whatever precedes it.
k k k
a ( x − h) 2 = k ⇒ ( x − h ) 2 = ⇒ x−h = ± ⇒x =h± .
a a a
 16 16 4 −6 +4 −6 −4
9( x + 2) 2 = 16 ⇒ ( x + 2) 2 = ⇒ x+2 = ± ⇒ x = −2 ± = , =
9 9 3 3 3
Ex.:
− 2 − 10
, .
3 3